Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Trading Up 3.2% on Analyst Upgrade

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 3.2% during trading on Friday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $50.00. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. Kulicke and Soffa Industries traded as high as $47.71 and last traded at $47.06. Approximately 130,431 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 495,098 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.61.

Several other analysts have also commented on KLIC. Craig Hallum cut their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $52.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 78.2% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 25,585 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 11,230 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 0.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 287,814 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $14,480,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,212 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $564,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,841,236 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $142,943,000 after buying an additional 128,026 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Up 1.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.40 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $44.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.37.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 19th will be paid a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 19th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. This is a boost from Kulicke and Soffa Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Kulicke and Soffa Industries's payout ratio is currently -65.04%.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Company Profile

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices. It operates through four segments: Ball Bonding Equipment, Wedge Bonding Equipment, Advanced Solutions, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company offers ball bonding equipment, wafer level bonding equipment, wedge bonding equipment; and advanced display, die-attach, and thermocompression systems and solutions, as well as tools, spares and services for equipment.